Notice is hereby given of events scheduled for Wednesday 21st October 2015, with which the Society is associated and at which it will be represented. All members are welcome (and encouraged) to attend.

Newcastle upon Tyne

Venue

St Nicholas Cathedral (Collingwood memorial at the back of the Church)

Time

0945 for 1000

Event

Annual short service of commemoration, organised by the Lord Mayor’s Office and the Cathedral

Info

Light refreshments afterwards

Tynemouth

Venue

Collinwood Monument

Time

1130

Event

‘Toast the Admiral 2015’ event, organised by North Tyneside Council

Info

Wylam grog available here, oration to be given by CO HMS COLLINGWOOD, flag-raising by MSTS, light refreshments afterwards in the refurbished TVLB

Morpeth

Venue

Town Hall, then Collingwood House (Oldgate)

Time

1120 for 1130 at the Town Hall, then 1150 for 1200 at Collingwood House

Event

‘Collingwood Toast 2015’, organised by Morpeth Town Council

Info

Flowers will be laid at the bust of Lord Collingwood to begin with, followed by proceedings at Collingwood House, Morpeth grog available at this one!

London

Venue

St. Paul’s Cathedral (adjacent to Nelson’s / Collingwood’s tombs)

Time

1045 for 1100

Event

Annual wreath-laying and short service of commemoration

Info

Long-established event, representation by London and south of England based members of the Society

“Now, gentlemen, let us do something today which the world may talk of hereafter.”

Wouldn’t that make an excellent slogan to be printed on a team’s kit?Why, yes, I’m looking at you, Mr. Hodgson…

Luckily, The Collingwood Society is more successful in its endeavours than Team England, and has yet again organised a plethora of magnificent events, to which you are all duly invited. I’d say a broad variety of interests will get covered! Download your 2014 PROGRAMME here.

The event of 23 October caught my eye, for it promises to be great fun:

The 3rd Annual General Meeting of the Collingwood Society, followed by ‘Forebitters’. A ‘forebitter’ was a sailor’s song, traditionally sung for recreation in the forecastle accommodation of an evening, as opposed to the more functional shanties which accompanied the various work tasks aboard ship. The concept of allowing rank and file members a 5-minute slot on anything Collingwood-related was received with enthusiasm when mooted at the 2013 AGM, so we are embarking on our first ‘open mike’ session, so to speak! Half a dozen or so ‘turns’ – mini-lecture, song, poetry, dance, costume, who knows??! Volunteers please apply to the Secretary before the Summer recess – this may take some organising!! Free admission for Society members, £2 for others.

Volounteers, don’t delay, apply today!

And here are some gentlemen who did something the world (well, the Morpeth Herald) did talk of hereafter: at a recent meeting of the Morpeth Rotary Club, guest speaker Captain Stephen Healy, President of the Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood Association, gave a talk to members about the admiral and his links with Morpeth.

(Did they mix up the names for the pictures, I wonder? Me thinks Captain Healy is the one on the left?)

In completely different news, and just so you can stop nagging me about it: The Admiral Collingwood Pub in Ilfracombe is now open for business. You can look at many, many pictures here. Why it was named after Collingwood – I have no idea. Looking at the toilets, Ye Olde Beetlejuice might have been more appropriate…? But good luck to them, and many happy guests!

This is my favourite contribution, though. It’s so lovely to see Morpeth and put faces to names.

In other news, Bounce was mentioned on Reddit. Quite clearly, this is the end of the world as we know it.

Having just returned from a trip to very northern shores in the wee hours of Trafalgar Day and not being in a very awake state (two words: fig vodka), I still managed to raise my glass for a toast to Admiral Collingwood, alas with a glass of vanilla-croissant-scented liquor. The alternative was cherry rum, so I hope you’ll forgive me. Next year, I hope I’ll manage something more dignified…

As some of you know, I’ve been a bit (ok, more than a bit) under the weather these last months, health- and otherwise, and had to cut back somewhere. “Somewhere” being my online presence, and you’re rightly upset with me that Old Cuddy (as well as Joyful Molly) fell victim to my cutbackiness. It wasn’t easy to give other things priorities, as you can imagine.

But now I’m back for good, and updates will be regular again. And he’re a heads-up for the next event of the honourable Collingwood Society:

“COLLINGWOOD AND MORPETH”

A talk to the The Collingwood Society byCapt. Stephen Healy

Thursday 19th September 2013: 7.30pm
The Ballroom, Morpeth Town Hall

Free for members of both the Collingwood Society and the Morpeth Antiquarian Society , £2 admission for others.
Parking is recommended at the adjacent Newgate Street car parks. Rail and bus travel is possible from Newcastle.

First things first: I have to apologise for the radio silence. As some of you may know, the last weeks have been rather unpleasant, and I had to put my online activities on the backburner. Thanks for your understanding.

7 March is just around the corner, and that means we’ll see the 203rd anniversary of Admiral Lord Collingwood’s death. It has become a bit of a tradition to place flowers on his tomb at St. Paul’s that day, but unfortunately, Old Cuddy will have to go without flowers this year.

“What? You can’t not do that!”

Well, little did my heathen self consider that Old Cuddy died in a very inconvinient month, church-wise. Means: LENT. Means: NO FLOWERS. No flowers through lent at St. Paul’s Cathedral. They were very friendly and they do make exceptions for one day of commemoration, but I’ll be honest with you: spending £££ on flowers which would only be there for a few hours and then thrown out would be a waste of money and flowers (the later sort of going against my religious principles). I appreciate that exceptions are made – it’s not like Old Cuddy died on purpose on 7 March, after all – but I decided it makes more sense to place flowers on Collingwood’s birthday in future rather than on the anniversary of his death.

But he won’t go empty handed, because he finally gets a commemorative bust! Or rather, Morpeth gets it, thanks to many generous donors and, of course, the Collingwood Society. The bust has been created by sculptor Helen Ridehalgh and is the second of a pair cast from the same mould. The original rests on Isla del Rey in Menorca harbour.

And it goes without saying that the Society has organised many events on 7 March, the unveiling of the bust only being one of many highlights.

a Service of commemoration and thanksgiving for the life of Vice Admiral Lord Collingwood at the Church of St. James the Great, Coppergate, Morpeth, 10.45am – 11.45am

an official civic ceremony and unveiling of the bust of Admiral Lord Collingwood, the Butter Market, Morpeth Town Hall, 12.30pm – 1.00pm (due to space restrictions, invited guests only, but the bust will be available to view after the ceremony)

Collingwood House, Oldgate, Morpeth will be open to the public between 1.30pm – 3.30pm. Society experts will be on hand to answer questions.

The 2013 Collingwood Lecture: “Collingwood – A Very Private Hero”, delivered by Max Adams, courtesy of the Royal Grammar School, Eskdale Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne. 7.30pm, in the main hall. Free for Society members and school staff and pupils, £2 admission charge for others. The inaugural Collingwood lecture was delivered as part of the Collingwood 2010 Festival and this, the second lecture, promises to be a prestigious event in the Society’s first year programme.

No rest for the wicked! June offers various events to commemorate Admiral Lord Collingwood, and if I may say so, some of them are… delicious!

WEEKEND OF 12./13.06.2010

There will be a Collingwood-themed exhibition at Morpeth Town Hall in Morpeth, organised by the Morpeth Antiquarian Society. All day, all free, all aboard!

AN UNIQUE DINING OPPORTUNITY – 14. + 15.06.2010

(…) in honour of Vice-Admiral Collingwood, William Brewis of Boldon Farmhouse Pantry has created a unique, “Collingwood-themed” menu.

Then the dinners will be hosted by an acknowledged and published expert on matters Collingwood (Max Adams on Monday 14th and Dr Tony Barrow on Tuesday 15th), Capt. Stephen Healy, Deputy Master of the Newcastle upon Tyne Trinity House and Chairman of the Collingwood 2010 Festival Committee and a certain John Grundy, local historian, broadcaster and raconteur extraordinaire.

Delicious food (also in a vegetarian variety – well done!), Collingwood, amazing venue – who could ask for more? Hurry up if you’d like to make a reservation, though – only three places are left! Costs are £ 45.00, and you have to pre-book. No pre-booking, no cheese. Please call +44 (0)191-2816025 for your reservation.

Additional information from Granville Thompson:

The price is inclusive of fine table wines and the cheeseboard features Doddington’s famous “Admiral Collingwood” and “Cuddy’s Cave” – both important reasons to attend!! Further, the dress for the event is indicated as Black Tie / Evening Wear (boring…) or Period Costume (Yay!!). Seemingly, Boldon farmhouse Pantry are reporting that many of those booking are favouring the latter. Which is good, because the Good Lady and I are attending on the Tuesday and Madame has made a full Georgian outfit just for the occasion!! I of course, as befits my lowly Midshipman’s status, will be in my uniform….

And because we all like visuals: here’s a collectible cigarette card which seems to come from a bar of chocolate. Chocolate cigarettes, maybe? In any case a great find, and you must admit that Old Cuddy looks very dashing here. Thanks a lot to Nana for finding it here and sharing! And also thanks to the card-owner, of course. Choccies or cigarette – neat!

It will have a seating and standing capacity of 200 and is scheduled to open on April 7, when a member of the Collingwood family will cut the ribbon, followed by an official opening ceremony on April 29.